Compared with the local labor market
Commissioner pay vs. the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ area
Across all employers in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ area, the median wage for Chief Executives — about 7,180 people — is $301,440. Fire Department pays a median base salary of $137,341 for this role, 54% below that figure — below the 10th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Fire Department sits in the local pay range
$164,740
$208,320
$301,440
$462,490
$709,670
Fire Department median · $137,341
The bar is the range of annual wages for Chief Executives across every employer in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Fire Department’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Chief Executives — about 204,350 people — is $213,990. Fire Department’s median base salary is 36% below that national figure, about the 27th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$75,700
$129,540
$213,990
$356,200
$507,730
Fire Department median · $137,341
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Fire Department is $194,637, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare jurisdictions
Commissioner beyond New York City
This role is reported in 11 jurisdictions. In New York City, the median of $72,079 ranks #8 of 11. See Commissioner across all of New York City →
Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role
Median total compensation for comparable Commissionerroles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.